We have at last count, over 200,000 acres of Northern California burning from Big Sur in the south to Trinity County near the Oregon border. We’ve got crews coming in from as far away as Florida to help fight them, our Guv has asked that Texan in the White House to declare California a Federal Disaster Area.
There’s good news and bad news–the smoke has lifted from the Valley enough so that I don’t have to go outside with a face mask, and we have a Delta Breeze that is keeping the smoke high above the Valley this morning. The bad news is that another series of thunderstorms is supposed to roll up the Sierras from the south today and tomorrow. Went outside this morning and there are actually PATCHES of cloudy sky overhead.
And to top it off, in the “Letters to the Editor” section of the Sacramento BEE this morning, one of the denizens of my home town–Nevada City–wrote in to let everyone know that the fires are God’s way of telling California that He’s angry at us for letting the State Supreme Court rule on the Gay Marriage situation. Hm. So how come Vermont and Canada aren’t on fire?
I mentioned that I was suffering from “Cabin Fever” in another post, and Flashwave answered me, letting me know he was sorry that my house had a cold. Funny guy, that Flash! [:P]
Jeff: Next time I’m in Louisiana, I’ll bring my ‘creeper,’ LOL! That little puppy really works for those hard to get spots. But I’m finding out that you really have to CLEAN under the layout to get the base-legs in. Those things are LONG! Which is a Good Thing, otherwise I’d be taking a header into the scenery.
For my friends in the Midwest: I hope Tornado Season is over, and QUICK! This has not turned out to be a good summer for ANYONE!
Wow, top of the page–that’s a first! And all this time I’ve been mooching my meals off of the rest of you, LOL! Well, line up, guys–Flo, it’s on me, this time.
Flash: How come the crew cars are on the front and back of the train? Those water tankers need to be connected to the pump on the TENDER, buddy, LOL! [:P]
in a UNION PACIFIC BIGBOY mug. [C=:-)]For dinner, grilled scallops with mango, onions & wild rice, please & thanks.
***Jerry, is that a static or operating rig behind the penn car? Always liked those things and hope to have one on a layout one day.
Wife & I have been running errands all day. Finally had a chance to try out the Bigboy. After much frustration (and this is in DC mode), it finally started operating as it is suppose to. I suspect the forward gears had a spec of something in them or just needed to break free. Now all seems well. Will run it for awhile when there are no storms about, just to make sure it’s a keeper. The detail is excellent. IMO, the sound is more of a novelty, but a nice first step for N scale. Wife came down to see it run and said she would need her reading glasses to see it.[(-D] Then she asked about sound for her HO models and I assured her it was not only available, but that she would be thrilled with the quality available in her scale. (right?)
Afternoon, Flo - I’ll have some tacos, since Tom’s buying - and a RBF, please. [dinner][:D] Thanks!
Tom, good to hear you got a reprieve from the smoke (even if only for a while). As for the thunderstorms our way, I think God’s been quite kind to Cape G. (as opposed to poor Indiana and Ohio lately).
Lee, it wasn’t me that had the mice - I was responding to Paul’s comment that he had to rescue Mary Ann from a mouse-set fire. [:O] But I don’t think I could have cats; I’d always wonder if the cat had been walking through the kitty litter and then across the kitchen counter where I was going to fix my dinner that night. (Ugh! [xx(] [tdn]) Cats are okay, just not in my home, thanks. Give me a dog anytime (but not one that can jump very high…).[;)] Lee, you’d better watch out for your insurance rates now, with teenage drivers (X2) in the home. You’ll be having to wonder on the weekends if you have a car, before you can head for the LHS. [:-^]
Oh, in case Gav hasn’t already answered your question, he lives in Bristol, county of Bristol, England. But I’d have to go look up a map or fire up Google Earth to see whereabouts that is in England…
What, Fergie? The [censored] icon is gone? Dag-nab-it, [soapbox] if it isn’t gone! But as someone else reminded you - what about your layout? If it’s raining, you should be inside working on that until the sun comes out again (and then you could stain the de
Rob, great to hear that you got to try out your BigBoy. Yeah, I’m sure your wife will love the sound on HO. Some of my fellow MRR club members have sound on their diesels, and it’s excellent. Of course, once you get a few running at the same time, you discover why a small train room has its disadvantages. [;)]
Evening Gang: Boy, ask and you shall receive. It started raining about an hour and a half ago and is still raining a little bit. If you need anything just mention it here and bingo. I guess PC may have had a hand in it.
Not much going on today. Rob and daughter Lara hauled hay for us today. It’s nice to have a couple of willing hands around. Rob took the new tractor with the cab and AC and let his wife Lara have the old open one. I wouldn’t be sujpprised to find him on the couch in the morning.
With the rain now we’ll lay off the hauling untill the ground drys up a bit. That will only take a day or two.
Rob we’ll keep on doing what we can. If i was closer I’d be at your side.
Well it’s bed time. I guess that Gav will be able to get a good nights sleep tonight.
Push-Pull. The RDCs (A tad modern for you I suppose, so are the cars, but for the rest of the bonfire known as California, it’ll work. ) allow for crew changes to “Hog Out” on the fly. And make sure that if the line behind them refills with fire, they can back out. What I forgot to mention is that this is only the Front Line half. there’s a second support unit, carrying extra water, an AutoMax filled with modified Hummers et al, a trio of pullmans, a diner, and ex-Troop/Baggage cars serving as tool cars.
Duh. Put the pumps in the box tank. make room in RDCs. Trailing units become RDC 1s *Full length Passenger) There will be water guns on the on the roof of the RDCs, proably onm top of the Tank cars, as well as ground ports for guys with short hoses to walk.
Jeff, I think instead of a temporary backdrop; maybe try to dress up the front of the A/C unit to look like a cold storage facility or something. Maybe put a line of trees on the back property line of the park? The entire park looks excellent.
While driving back from Geneva, OH this afternoon we were hit with some heavy downpours. I was on State Route 20 plowing water all the way home in my F-250. When I hit the freeway, traffic was running at 35mph. Here in Euclid, the water was shooting out of the manhole covers because the main storm drains were over loaded. We still have flooding problems at the heads of navigation; if it keeps up we will have problems down here at the mouth of the rivers.
Evening, Flo, I’ll have a cup of hot chocolate and some Oreos, please. Oh, I’m just in an Oreos mood, I guess. Thanks.
Okay, PC, we’ve got the rain turned back as far as Paul’s place. Next we take it a few hundred miles further west, and up north to Tom’s neighborhood so they can water down those forest fires…
Seriously, Paul, that’s great that you’re getting some rain. I’m guessing that your Rob might have been making a misguided attempt to ‘educate’ Lisa on how much better newer (A/C’ed) tractor cabs are…? Of course, as you say, Lisa may give Rob a lesson of his own if he winds up on the couch tonight. [oops]
Diners, it appears we didn’t get that other portion of the storm over near Lee diverted away. Lee, I hope you have a boat to get to work, at this rate! How long has it been raining for you there, this round?
Gav, do your dorms there have electronic keys, or some kind of electronic override to keep the little darlings locked out? Got me curious.
I’d best get to my Oreos - Flash was eyeing them awfully closely there. Think I’ll finish them off, just in case.[;)]
It’s been raining here about every other day it seems. Todays storms came in threes; First squall rolled through for 30 minutes dumping rain, then a 15 minute break with 45 minutes of pouring rain and lightning, then the third squall hit 10 minuits after #2 dumping rain for about an hour. Each rain storm visibility was down to zero.
